Statement to the European Commission on the Data Act and review of the Database Directive

CSC warmly welcomes the Commission’s plans to enhance B2B and B2G data sharing by means of a dedicated Data Act. Data sharing must be encouraged in several ways, including by making sufficient data infrastructure and support services available for users. This becomes particularly important in case data sharing is made compulsory in some fields.

The Data Act must be firmly rooted in the GDPR, MyData principles, FAIR principles and the European Interoperability Framework. Personal data must be properly protected and individuals must have control over their own data, including data generated by their using of smart connected objects. Interoperability must be improved at all its levels (legal, organisational, semantic, technical) through standards developed in a community-driven manner.

The Data Act and especially the review of the Database Directive can have a significant positive impact on availability of research data. In CSC’s view, all publicly funded research data must be available for re-use and therefore exempted from the sui generis right laid down in the Database Directive.

Read the full statement here